The Salon du Laboratoire is a new digital exhibition for professionals dedicated to laboratory equipment and services. Organized by FABRILABO, the syndicate of laboratory equipment manufacturers in France, it will take place on May 18, 19 and 20, 2021 regardless of the health situation. We spoke with FABRILABO’s president, Yann Glutron, who looks at the major trends for the coming years in the laboratory world as well as the main challenges.
MedicalExpo e-magazine: Why a “digital” exhibition?
Yann Glutron: For 12 months now, we have been going through a global health crisis that has completely changed the planning of “face-to-face” professional events. It has therefore become mandatory to think about an efficient solution for visitors, who are actively looking for new products, and for exhibitors, who have an active need for contacts with these visitors (future customers). Digitization is a real alternative solution that offers unprecedented advantages such as interaction between all visitors and exhibitors, online access to conferences and all dematerialized documentation. Digitization also makes it possible to participate from the office or meeting room with colleagues, but also from the comfort of your own sofa, in France or elsewhere.
MedicalExpo e-magazine: Who can we meet at the Salon du Laboratoire?
Yann Glutron: Manufacturers, distributors, service providers, decision-makers, buyers, designers, project managers, maintenance or safety managers, engineers, technicians, teachers… The Salon du Laboratoire brings together all professionals from the world of the Laboratory, in the sectors of Pharmacy, Biotechnology, Industry, Cosmetology, Chemistry, Agro-food, etc., in the public and private sphere. The exhibition also features three major conferences on the themes of safety management in the laboratory, laboratory design (customer feedback), and exposure to chemical risks and new technologies to protect against them.
There will also be many round tables with a common thread: the customer experience. The idea is to bring together around a table an exhibitor and one or more of its customers to discuss their feedback. These are customer-oriented round tables, so they are as close as possible to the expectations of visitors, who can interact directly with the speakers, update their contacts and obtain all the necessary product information (download brochures, simplified access by product family as at a face-to-face trade show, but without the miles of stands).
MedicalExpo e-magazine: What are the major trends for the coming years in the laboratory world?
Yann Glutron: Automation and robotics are gradually establishing themself in the laboratory. They help improve performance and reproducibility of results, but they also help reduce exposure risks. Artificial intelligence and system interoperability are also areas of strong development.
MedicalExpo e-magazine: What have been the main innovations in recent years that have changed the laboratory field?
Yann Glutron: There has been no real upheaval, but rather a slow and continuous evolution. The IoT has gradually taken hold, just like management software and automation. Labs are also becoming more sustainable and safe.
MedicalExpo e-magazine: How has the Covid-19 pandemic changed things for the lab world?
Yann Glutron: Like the rest of the economy, laboratories have had to adapt to health regulations, lockdown, and distancing. If a minority of laboratories saw their activities stop during the first containment, on the contrary, for many of the others, the activity has been booming. The application of teleworking is more difficult than in other activities, but new work organizations have emerged.
MedicalExpo e-magazine: What are the main challenges ahead?
Yann Glutron: The trend is clearly towards personal and environmental protection becoming central. The working environment of laboratory staff must be strongly adapted to environmental and social issues, at the risk of seeing the disaffection for the chemistry and biology professions accelerate.
MedicalExpo e-magazine: What will the laboratory of the future look like?
Yann Glutron: Sustainable, flexible, connected.
